That's fate.
Sandy, I'm glad it's finally my turn.
Lizzie closed the book. "Remo, we've got to get out of here."
"Really? I hadn't thought about it," Remo said sarcastically. He looked up from the tangled mass of wires to see Lizzie's face glistening with tears. "Hey, what's the matter?"
She told him Cooligan's story. "He must have loved her so much," she said. "He was going blind, and all he could think about was his wife."
Oh, Dick. I've never even told you I loved you.
"Please try, Remo. I want to go home."
"I'm doing what I can," Remo said, winding two wires together. To his surprise, a hum began, low and erratic.
"You've done it," Lizzie gasped. "You fixed it!"
"Now cool it. I haven't done anything, except start a hum."
"That's a motor. That Metters guy must have fixed the module, after all. They all escaped!" she cried jubilantly. "And we know where the switch is. We can make this thing take us back."
"How?" Remo asked.
"That's up to you. I'll get the others."
?Chapter Eleven
"Quick, we're leaving," Lizzie shouted, interrupting Chiun's 450th stanza of an Ung poem about a bee lighting on a flower.
The court musicians playing behind him stopped abruptly. The king snorted out of deep slumber. In the corner of the king's throne room, where Po and Nata-Ah were playing dice, the spotted snakebones twirled in the air and landed in the silence with a dead thump.
"You have ruined my recital," Chiun said, clenching his jaws. "Now I will have to begin from the beginning."
"No, we have to leave now," Lizzie insisted. "Remo's got the mechanism working. Let's go."
Chiun stared at her acidly, deciding that the next time he came across a woman buried in stone he would leave her to rot. He made his apologies to the king through Po.
As Nata-Ah listened to the boy's explanation, tears filled her eyes. The boy turned to speak to her, but she scrambled to her feet and ran out of the room.
"Come on, come on. There's no time for this nonsense," Lizzie said, pushing the boy out.
In the temple, Lizzie gathered up all the priceless artifacts she could carry, plus the captain's log, and led the way into the pod.
"That is stealing," Chiun said coldly.
"This is archaeology," she retorted. "We need this as evidence that we've really been here. Besides, this temple was built for us, wasn't it?"
Remo looked up from the dials of the console. "No, it wasn't," he said softly. "It was built for some Irish pilot who played baseball and made medicine and then went blind. And he didn't take anything from here."
"We don't know that," she snapped. "For all we know, he took everything he could get his hands on. That old king's too old to know if anything's missing, anyway. Hurry up."
Remo shook his head and continued to work at the controls. The hum was getting louder.
As Po was walking reluctantly into the pod, the king and Nata-Ah appeared in the darkened doorway of the Cassandra. The boy started to move toward them, but Lizzie snatched him back.
"I'm sorry," Remo said. The king seemed to understand. He bowed to Chiun, then stood erect, his hand clasping the young girl's.
"If it does work, God only knows where we'll end up next. We might walk out of this thing and see a bunch of cavemen or futuristic mutants," Remo complained.
"Just set the dials right," Lizzie ordered.
Remo held his temper and set the dials. He pulled the broken switch. "I guess that's it," he said.
"Get in here," Lizzie shouted from inside the pod.
Ignoring her, Remo bowed to the king. The old man and his granddaughter both returned the bow. Then Remo climbed into the pod and closed the door to await the weird, syrupy sensations that would take him home.
"You interrupted my Ung poem for this?" Chiun said after several minutes.
"Nothing's happening," Lizzie said.
Remo stood up. "I told you all I started was a hum."
"You must have done something wrong!" Lizzie yelled, kicking open the door.
Outside, the king and Nata-Ah were still waiting. At the sight of the visitors, their faces lit up. The king began to sink to his knees, but Chiun held him up.
"No bowing," he said. "Those of our age bend to no man." Po translated, and the king led them back to the throne room.
"You have blessed me and my people by returning," the king said. "It is the time when we most need your services. You knew of our need and came back to us."
"What need?" Remo said.
"With Quintanodan returned to his tribe, the Olmec will be making ready to do battle against you."
"The Olmec are going to fight us?"
"But they will not win," the king assured him. "They cannot. For I have preserved something of Kukulcan's magic to aid you."
He led them behind a gold filigree screen, where a five-foot-tall jar of finest jade glowed. Lizzie's eyes popped at the sight. He bade Remo to remove the heavy lid of the jar and tip the vessel over. From its green mouth spilled six weapons made of greenish metal.
"The lasers," Remo said, picking one up. The light metal was strong as iron.
"The magic spears of fire," the king said, smiling. "For these ten years I have hidden them from all eyes, saving them for the return of our beloved Kukulcan. I had almost despaired of ever seeing the god again. But he has remembered my people. He has sent you in his place. These now, I know, belong to you." He started to bow, then straightened up with a smile to Chiun.
"Thank you, my friend," the old Oriental said. "But we have no need of these weapons now. When we return, my son will wish to take one to show his people. But if your enemies attack, we will fight them with our hands and our minds. Nothing else is necessary."